Vehicle heating system



NOV. 28, 1939. v J, RUMPF 2,181,742

VEHI CLE HEATING SYSTEM Filed May 17, 1937 ZSheetS-Sheet l TTORNE Nov. 2s, 1939. J, RUMPF 2,181,742

VEHICLE HEATING SYSTEM Filed May 17, 1937 2 SheetS--Shee 2 INVENTOR AT1-ORNE Patented Nov. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VEHICLE HEATING srs'rnM Application May 17, 1937, Serial No. 143,005

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a heating system for a railroad car or the like, and more particularly to a heater for such a system.

Many foodstuffs must be protected from tem- 5 perature extremes, particularly temperatures near and below freezing during their transportation from farm to market. It has been a somewhat common expedient to fill the ice bunkers of a refrigerator car with glowing charcoal to maintain the desired temperature within the car. This, however, is unsatisfactory because the car is not properly constructed to diffuse the heat from the charcoal, because the charcoal soon burns out, and because of the danger of iire. The use of charcoal in ice bunkers is further characterized by a dangerous concentration of carbon monoxide in the car and localized heating in the upper portion only thereof. Other heating systems fill valuable cargo storage space and in so doing become inaccessible when the car is filled. Many heating devices are characterized by heater units, operation of which over extended periods of time is not always attainable because of lack of fuel storage space and, where a gaseous fuel is used, because the moving car encounters and causes turbulent air currents which not only cause uneven burning of the heater, but often extinguish the llame in the heater. A further diiliculty encountered in other heaters lies in ventilation thereof in such a manner as not only to prevent extinguishment of the ame in the heater and provide a steady ample drought, but also to safeguard the car from catching lire from hot exhaust gases.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a heatingsystem for a freight car or similar vehicle, which utilizes a minimum amount of space in the car and by which an even temperature of desired value can be inexpensively o maintained throughout the car. It is a further object of this invention to provide a heater for such a heating system which operates dependably and efciently, which may be easily installed, which is readily accessible for repair or adjustment, and which is thoroughly reliable under conditions of rigorous and extended continuous use. Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

'I'he invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a railro'ad car having my heating system installed therein;

Figures 2, 3 and 4 comprise an orthographic projection partly in section showing the air circulating path in the heater;

Figures 5, 6 and 7 comprise an orthographic -projection partly in section showing the various 10 operating parts of the heater;

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the control unit in the heater; and,

Figure 9 is a sectional elevation of the pressure regulating valve used in the heater.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring iirst to Figure l, a freight car Ill has secured to the bottom and intermediate the ends 20 thereof a heater generally indicated at II. As will be more fully pointed out below, heater II heats water or another suitable medium which flows from the heater by way of a riser pipe I2 to branch pipes I3 and I4 which are respectively 25 connected with a pair of radiator systems I5 and I6 disposed in the floor of car Ill. A closed expansion tank I1 and a filler pipe I8 are connected to riser I2 and radiators I5 and I6 are connected to heater Il by return pipes I9 and 20 30 respectively. Preferably all portions of riser i2 and return pipes I9 and 20 which lie below the bottom of car I0 are protected by suitable insulating jackets. It may accordingly be seen that the heating system comprises a thermo-syphonic 35 system, the operation of which is well known.

A thermostat 2l is positioned preferably centrally in the upper part of car I0 and is connected to heater Il by a pipe 22, heater Il also being connected by means of a pipe 23 to a 40 fuel tank 24 supported on the under side of car I0. Thus, according to the dictates of thermostat 2l, hot water rises through riser pipe I2 and then branches into radiator systems I5 and I6 by way of branches I3 and I4 respectively. 4,5 As the water circulates through the radiator systems and is cooled therein, it returns by gravity to the heater by way of return pipes I9 and 20.

As is shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7, heater Il 50 comprises a casing 25 (Figure 5) in which is disposed an enclosure 26 formed by vertical partition walls 2'I of suitable heat insulating material.

A plurality of water heaters 28 (see also Figure 7) are suspended within enclosure 26 by means u of a rod 3| (Figure 6) which extends through lugs 28h formed on heaters 28 and is suitably secured to the sides of enclosure 26. As is better shown in Figures 5 and 6, heaters 28 are connected lto one another and to riser pipe I2. Referring to Figure 5, each of heaters 28 has corrugated side portions 28a which are spaced from one another and enclose water chambers 29 through which water circulates as it heats. Heaters 28 are also connected together at their bottom portions by a suitable fixture 38 (Figure 7) which has its opposite ends connected to return pipes I9 and 28 (Figure 6). Thus the return water flows into the bottom of the heater, and upon being heated rises therethrough to riser pipe I2 for circulation through the heating system in car I8.

A gas burner 32 (Figure 7) is mounted in the lower part of casing 25 with its heating portion 32a in the lower portion of heater enclosure 26 under heaters 28, the nozzle 32h of burner 32 extending through a removable door 21a in wall 21 and being connected to one end of a feed line 33, the other end of which is connected to the outlet end 34 (see Figures 5 and 6) of a control Valve generally indicated at 35. 'The inlet end 36 of control valve 35 is connected to the outlet end 31 of an automatic shut-off valve generally indicated at 38, whose inlet end 39 is connected by a pipe 48 to the outlet end 4| of a pressure regulating valve generally indicated at 42. Fuel pipe 23 connects the inlet end 44 of pressure valve 42 with fuel supply tank 24 (Figure 1) which is preferably filled with a liquied gas evaporation of which maintains a substantially constant pressure head in the fuel tank.

As shown in Figures 6 and 9, reducing valve 42 includes filter chamber 45 (Figure 6) in which a spring 41 maintains a liquid iilter 48 in proper operative position. With reference to Figure 9, the gas, after flowing through lter 48, passes through inlet 49 past a needle valve 58, thence into a chamber 5| formed in the valve, and ows out of chamber 5| through outlet port 4I (see Figures 5 and 6). 'Ihe upper portion of chamber 5I (Figure 9) is closed by a iiexible diaphragm 52 which is held in place by a cover plate 53 suitably bolted to chamber 5|, cover plate 53 forming with diaphragm 52 a chamber 54 openl to the atmosphere by way of a vent 55. A stem 56 extends through and is secured to diaphragm 52 by opposed plates 51 and 58 whichA are held together by a nut 59. An adjustable cap 68 is threaded into a boss 6| formed on cover plate 53, nut 59 being hollowed to receive a spring 62 which bears against diaphragm plate 58 and constantly forces the diaphragm and stem 56 downwardly as viewed in Figure 9.

Chamber 5| is provided with a lug 63 which pivotally mounts an arm 64, one end of which is pivotally related to stem 56 and the other end of which is operatively associated with needle valve 58. Needle valve 50 is mounted to reciprocate in a bore 65, and a spring 66 disposed in this bore constantly urges needlel valve 58 against lever 64. It may now be seen that the downward bias of spring 62 acting through stem 56 tends to pivot lever 64 in a clockwise direction to swing the lever away from the end of needle valve 58. When this' occurs spring 66 urges the needle valve out of inlet 49 and permits a flow of gas therethrough. However, if the pressure of the gas in chamber 5| reaches or exceeds a predetermined and desired maximum, diaphragm 52 is flexed upwardly against the bias of spring 62, causing upward movement of stem 66 and counter-clockwise movement of lever 64 to cause at least a partial closing of inlet 48 by needle valve 68.

As noted above, gas flows out of pressure valve 42 (Figure 6) by way of discharge 4|, thence through pipe 48 into automatic shut-ofi valve 38. As is best shown in Figure 8, valve 38 comprises a body portion 61 provided with a chamber 68, which communicates with discharge 31 (sec also Figure 6) by way of a valve closed bore 69. A dome 18 is bolted to the top of valve body 61, theA dome and body being sealed bya gasket 1| disposed therebetween. A solenoid (not shown)v is operatively disposed in dome 18 and is energized by'a thermo-couple 12 (Figure 7) which is connected to the solenoid by a conductor 13 (see Figure 5). A fuller description of the position and purpose of thermo-couple 12 will be set forth hereinbelow.

A seat portion 14 (Figure 8) is formed in the bottom of valve chamber 68 around bore 69, this seat portion and bore being concentric with a hole 15 formed in valve body 61 and communicating with bore 69. A valve stem 16 extends through hole 15 and bore 69, land has secured thereto a guide 11 which reciprocates in bore 69 as the valve is actuated. A gate 18 is secured to the upper end'of valve stem 16 and, with a disc 19, seats against valve seat 14 upon downward movement of stem 16 to shut ofi communication between valve chamber 68 and discharge 31 by way of bore 69. The lower part oi stem 16 extends through valve body 61 so that portion 16a thereof lies outside Aof the valve. A bellows 88 surrounds the exposed portion 16a of stem 16 and has its'upper end 88a connected to valve body 61 and its lower end 88h connected to a push-button 8| against which the bottom 16a of the valve stem rests. Preferably bellows 88 is enclosed within a suitable guard or casing 8Ia. A

spring 82 is disposed between the bottom surface of dome 18 and the upper surface of disc 18 to constantly urge the valve disc downwardly on seat 14. Spring 82 preferably surrounds a plunger |48, which is connected to the armature of the solenoid in dome 18. Thus valve disc 18 may be lifted from seat 14 by upward pressure on valve stem 16 by push button 8|. At the same time plunger |48 is forced upwardly against the bias of spring 82 and as the plunger is connected to the solenoid armature, it is maintained in vthis position wherein it holds the valve open when the solenoid is energized. When valve gate 18 is so lifted, -gas may ow from chamber 68 through bore 69 into discharge 31 and thence into a -receiving chamber 83 formed in inlet end 36 of control valve 35,.

Control valve 35 operates in response to thermostat 2| (Figure 1) which as noted above communicates with the control valve by way of pipe 22 (Figure 5). Referring again to Figure 8, pipe 22 is connected to ari upper chamber 84 of valve 35, this chamber being a pressure chamber in which the pressure tends to collapse a bellows 85 to force downwardly a stem 86 against the action oi.' a spring 81 and a spring 88. Stem 86 is operatively connected at its lower end to an arm 89 loosely pivoted between a pair of screws 98 and 9|. The right-hand end of arm 89, as viewed in Figure 8, is connected to a snap spring 92, which is in turn connected to the lower end of a needle valve 93, Whose needle portion 93a is positioned to seat in a bore 94 formed in discharge end 34 of the control valve. Bore 94 comand accordingly gas iiowing thereinto from discharge 31 of shut-off valve 38 may flow therefrom, when needle valve 93 is unseated, into and through pipe 33 to burner 32 (see Figures 5, 6 and '1). It may now be seen that according to the dictates of thermostat 2|, which as noted above responds to the temperature inside car I0, needle valve 93 is seated or unseated to prevent or permit gas flow to burner 32.

Receiving chamber 83 is also provided with another gas outlet or discharge 95, which connects with a pipe 96 (Figure 6) through which gas may flow to a pilot light 91 (Figure 1) for burner 32. Pilot 91 is preferably in the form of a torus through which thermo-couple 12 extends. Thus, as long as pilot 91 is burning, thermocouple 12 is heated and current can flow to the solenoid in dome 10 (Figure 8) of shut-of! valve 38 by way of conductor 13. However, if pilot 91 is blown out or becomes extinguished for any reason, thermo-couple 12 cools and the solenoid in shut-oi valve 30 becomes de-energized to permit spring 82 to force valve gate 18 down on its seat 14 thus preventing now of gas into receiving chamber 83 of control valve 35, Thus gas is prevented from iiowing out of pilot discharge or burner discharge 34, and all danger of explosion is precluded.

Referring now to Figures 2, 3 and 4, in which I show the provisions for air inlet and exhaust gas outlet, insulating walls 21 (Figure 2) which form enclosure 28, also form with adjacent walls of casing 25 air passages or chambers 98, 99, |00 and IOI, as will be more fully described below. As may be seen from Figure '7, air passage IOI houses most of the controlling valves for the heater as heretofore described. Air chambers 98 and |00 (Figure 2) are substantially similar, and accordingly but one of them will be described hereinafter.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, air chamber 98 has disposed therein an elongated hood or 'U- shaped partition |02, the upper portion |03 of which encircles an opening |04 formed in the wall of casing 25. Partition |02 preferably extends down to and is secured to the bottom wall 25a (Figure 3) of casing 25, the lower edges of the partition being secured along opposite edges of an opening |05 formed in casing bottom 25a. Opening |05 may be closed by a closure plate |06, which is held in place by a nut |01 threaded to a stud |08 secured to a plate |09. Thus opening |05 provides a convenient clean-out opening for the space enclosed by partition I 02. Hood |02 accordingly forms an air passage IIO within air chamber 98 in communication with the at mosphere by way of casing opening |04 and in communication with air chambers 98 by way of a number of holes |I2 formed in the lower portions of partition IIO. A hood or cowl III (Figures 2 and 4) partially encircles air inlet |04 to prevent cross currents of air from causing a vacuum in air passage IIO.

A pair of partitions II3 and II4 (Figure 3) separate air chamber 98 from air chambers 99 and IUI respectively and accordingly act as vbattles to cause air flowing from partition openings II2 to pass upwardly through chamber 98 before flowing into chambers 99 and IOI, As shown in Figure 7, insulating walls 21 do not extend to the bottom of the casing 25 and accordingly. with reference to Figures 2 and 3, the air is free to flow from air chambers 99 and IOI under walls 21 and into the space below burner 32 (Figure 7). Thereafter burner 32 heats the air which rises past water heater 28 and, as shown in Figure 3, is exhausted through exhaust ports generally indicated at II5 and II6. The upper portion of casing 25 (Figure 3) over heater enclosure 28 is provided with a sheet of heat insulating material II1 directly under the top wall of the casing which is secured to the bottom of car I0.

The upper part of enclosure 26 (Figure 3) communicates with exhaust ports II5 and II8 by way of openings ||8 and II9 respectively, opening II8 conmiunicating with an exhaust chamber II9 having a bottom plate |20 inclined to permit moisture drainage. Similarly, opening |I9 communicates with an exhaust chamber I 2| having an inclined drainage plate |22. Exhaust chamber I 2|, however, has a relatively narrow and elongated exhaust port |22 (see Figures 1 andv 4) this exhaust being so shaped as it is positioned almost directly under the side of car I0, where it receives the full force of cross currents of wind. The small size of exhaust |23 prevents such cross currents from rushing through exhaust chamber |2I into heater enclosure 26 where they might disturb or extinguish the iiame in burner 32. As exhaust chamber II9 is more or less protected by various fixtures beneath car I0, it is not necessary to restrict the size of the opening of this chamber which accordingly opens directly to the atmosphere.

To permit ready access to the interior of heater II, I provide a door |24 hingedly supported on the exposed side of heater I I. If desired, a latch t| may be used with a padlock for locking the oor.

As pointed out above with respect to Figure 2, air chamber |00 is substantially similar to air chamber 98, and is accordingly provided with a hood or partition |26, 'I'his hood forms with a pair of partitions |21, similar to partitions II4, a tortuous air passage between an inlet |28 in the casing wall adjacent the upper portion of the hood and the openings in the bottom of air chambers 99 and IOI. Air inlet |28 is also provided With an air shield or cowl |29 similar to cowl III. Thus when heater II is positioned beneath car I0, one of openings |04 or |28 will be facing the direction of movement of the car and accordingly air is forced through one or the other of the above-described tortuous passages to the burner and thence out through exhausts |23 50 and H9. It should also be noted that by arranging exhausts ||9 and |23 parallel with the sides of the car, movement of the car in either direction of travel causes a certain amount of suction at the exhausts to increase the normal amount of draught.

It will now appear that heater II is provided with tortuous paths through which the inlet air must iiow to the heater and with well protected exhausts which dissipate the products of combustion of the heater Without endangering the car or permitting the flame in the heater to be blown out. Thus the heater can operate efficiently at all times in response to the temperature needs within the car and so maintain the conditions desired therein.' Further, by placing heating pipes I5 and I6 in the iioor of the car and b y hanging heater II outside of and beneath the car, all storage space Within the car may be used for cargo and the heater is easily accessible at all times from without the car.

I have thus provided a heating system and a heater therefor which efliciently heats a railroad car or the like and thus attains the several objects 4111g Sense.

I claim:

1. In car heating apparatus, in combination, a casing to be mounted upon the car, said casing having two longitudinal side walls extending in the direction of the car movement and twotransverse side walls, an air inlet port on each of said transverse side walls and an air exhaust port on each of said longitudinal side walls, each of said exhaust ports having an outwardly diverging outlet and one of said ports having an overhanging lip along the lower edge of its outlet opening, a combustion chamber in said casing having sides juxtaposed to and spaced from the sides of said casing to form air spaces, baille means positioned to form a tortuous path from each of said air inlet .ports to the bottom of said combustion chamber, and means directing the gases from the top of said combustion chamber through said exhaust ports. n,

2. In car heating apparatus, in combination, a casing to be mounted upon the car, said casing having two longitudinal side walls extending in thedirection of the car movement and two transverse side walls, an air inlet port on each of said .transverse side walls and an air exhaust port on each of said longitudinal side walls, each of said exhaust ports having an outwardly diverging outlet and one of said ports having an overhanging lip along the lower edge Aof its outlet opening and being substantially smaller than the other exhaust port, each of said exhaust ports having a bottom wall which extends downwardly and outwardly, a combustion chamber in said casing having sides juxtaposed to and spaced from the sides of said casing to form air spaces, baille means positioned to form a tortuous path from each of said air inlet ports to the bottom of said combustion chamber, and means directing the gases from the top of said combustion chamber through said exhaust ports.

3. In car heating apparatus, in combination, a casing to be mounted upon the car, and a combustion chamber centrally positioned within said casing, said casing having two longitudinal side walls extending substantially in the direction of car movement and transverse side walls, means forming an air inlet port on each of said transverse side walls, and means forming an air exhaust port at the upper portion of each of said longitudinal side walls, one of said last-named means comprising a substantially horizontal upper wall and a downwardly and outwardly extending bottom wall spaced therefrom and extending out, wardly beyond the edge of its longitudinal side wall to form an overhanging lip, said substantially horizontal wall and said bottom wall forming an outwardly diverging duct with its inner end connccted to receive gases from the upper central= portion of said casing at the top of said combus tion chamber and its outer end connected to deliver gases to the atmosphere through an opening extending along said overhanging lip.

JOHN RUMPF. 

